System and method for charging and pulsating batteries

ABSTRACT

A battery charging and pulsating system including a battery having a positive terminal and a negative terminal, a charger electrically connected to the positive and the negative terminals of the battery, the charger including a controller, a pulsator electrically connected to the positive and the negative terminals of the battery, the pulsator including a controller, and a voltage measuring circuit electrically connected to the positive and the negative terminals of the battery, the voltage measuring circuit being adapted to measure a voltage across the positive and the negative terminals of the battery, wherein the controller of the pulsator is adapted to activate the pulsator when the measured voltage is at least one of (1) at or below a predetermined threshold voltage and (2) at or above a predetermined gassing voltage.

PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 11/786,651 filed onApr. 12, 2007 (allowed), the entire contents of which are incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present application is directed to the art of battery charging and,more particularly, to systems and methods for charging and pulsatingbatteries.

Various deposits, such as lead sulfate deposits, often are generated asbyproducts of the electro-chemical reaction that takes place when abattery is discharged. The accumulation of such deposits within thebattery may degrade the operation of the battery and, if sufficientaccumulation is present, may short circuit the battery.

Pulsation devices have been developed to counteract the accumulation ofsuch deposits by applying pulsation energy, such as radio frequencyenergy, to the battery. Without being limited to any particular theory,it is believed that pulsation energy breaks down the accumulateddeposits and facilitates free electron flow between the battery plates.

Typical pulsation devices emit an unwanted signal that may confuse thebattery charger and may result in a battery not receiving a full charge.Furthermore, pulsation devices may cause the battery charger to run muchlonger than is necessary to charge a battery, which may produce excesshydrogen gas and creates a safety hazard.

Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for charging andpulsating batteries, while limiting undesired side effects.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, a battery charging and pulsating system may include abattery having a positive terminal and a negative terminal, a chargerconnected to the positive and negative terminals of the battery, thecharger including a controller, a pulsator connected to the positive andnegative terminals of the battery and a filter positioned between thecharger and the pulsator to filter signals received from the pulsator.

In another aspect, a battery charging and pulsating system may include abattery having a positive terminal and a negative terminal, a chargerelectrically connected to the positive and negative terminals of thebattery, the charger including a controller, a pulsator electricallyconnected to the positive and negative terminals of the battery, thepulsator including a controller, and a voltage measuring circuitelectrically connected to the positive and negative terminals of thebattery, the voltage measuring circuit being adapted to measure avoltage across the positive and negative terminals of the battery,wherein the controller of the pulsator is adapted to activate thepulsator when the measured voltage is (1) at or below a predeterminedthreshold voltage and/or (2) at or above a predetermined gassingvoltage.

In another aspect, a battery charging and pulsating system may include abattery having a positive terminal and a negative terminal, a chargerelectrically connected to the positive and negative terminals of thebattery, the charger including a controller, and a pulsator electricallyconnected to the positive and negative terminals of the battery, thepulsator including a controller, wherein the controller of the pulsatoris in communication with the controller of the charger, and wherein thecontroller of the pulsator is adapted to activate the pulsator only whenthe controller of the charger provides an indication that the charger isinactive.

In another aspect, a battery charging and pulsating system may include abattery having a positive terminal and a negative terminal, a chargerelectrically connected to the positive and negative terminals of thebattery, the charger including a controller, and a pulsator electricallyconnected to the positive and negative terminals of the battery, thepulsator including a controller, wherein the controller of the pulsatoris determining by means of a voltage or current measurement that thecharger is inactive and wherein the controller of the pulsator isadapted to activate the pulsator only when the controller of thepulsator determines that the charger is inactive.

In another aspect, a battery charging and pulsating system may include abattery having a positive terminal and a negative terminal, a chargerelectrically connected to the positive and negative terminals of thebattery, the charger including a controller, a pulsator electricallyconnected to the positive and negative terminals of the battery, thepulsator including an internal circuit having a capacitor, and aswitching device disposed between the capacitor and the charger, whereinthe switching device is adapted to electrically isolate the charger fromthe capacitor.

In another aspect, a battery charging and pulsating system may include abattery having a positive terminal and a negative terminal, a chargerelectrically connected to the positive and negative terminals of thebattery, the charger including a controller, a pulsator electricallyconnected to the positive and negative terminals of the battery, thepulsator including an internal circuit having a capacitor, wherein thecapacitor is adapted to store a voltage, and a resistive deviceselectively disposed between the capacitor and the charger, wherein theresistive device is adapted to dissipate the voltage from the capacitor.

Other aspects of the disclosed system and method for charging andpulsating batteries will become apparent from the following description,the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 a is a block diagram of a first aspect of the disclosed systemfor charging and pulsating batteries;

FIG. 1 b is a block diagram of a second aspect of the disclosed systemfor charging and pulsating batteries;

FIG. 1 c is a block diagram of a third aspect of the disclosed systemfor charging and pulsating batteries;

FIG. 1 d is a block diagram of a fourth aspect of the disclosed systemfor charging and pulsating batteries;

FIG. 2 a is a graphical illustration of voltage versus time for thesystem of FIG. 1 a before signal attenuation;

FIG. 2 b is a graphical illustration of voltage versus time for thesystem of FIG. 1 a after signal attenuation;

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of the internal circuitry of thepulsator of the system of FIG. 1 c;

FIG. 4 a is a graphical illustration of voltage versus time of thesystem of FIG. 1 c before either bleeding or disconnecting the voltagefrom the charger after the pulsator has determined that the battery hasbeen removed;

FIG. 4 b is a graphical illustration of voltage versus time of thesystem of FIG. 1 c after either bleeding or disconnecting the voltagefrom the charger after the pulsator has determined that the battery hasbeen disconnected; and

FIG. 5 is a graphical illustration of average voltage per battery cellversus time according to the system of FIG. 1 b.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1 a, a first aspect of the disclosed battery chargingand pulsating system, generally designated 10, may include a battery 12,a battery charger 14, a pulsation device or battery pulsator 16 and afilter 18. The battery 12 may include a positive terminal 20 and anegative terminal 22. The battery charger 14 may include a controller 24and may be connected to the filter 18 by a first connection line 26 andthe negative terminal 22 of the battery 12 by a second connection line28. The filter 18 may be connected to the positive terminal 20 of thebattery 12 by a third connection line 30. The battery pulsator 16 mayinclude a controller 32 and may be connected to the positive terminal 20of the battery 12 by a fourth connection line 34 and the negativeterminal 22 of the battery 12 by a fifth connection line 36.

The battery 12 may include metal plates (e.g., lead plates) (not shown)and an electrolyte solution (e.g., sulfuric acid) (not shown). Thebattery 12 may be charged by connecting the battery 12 to the charger 14by connection lines 26, 28, 30 such that the charger 14 may apply avoltage greater than the voltage rating of the battery 12, therebyforcing current to flow from the charger 14 and into the battery 14.

The pulsator 16 may apply high-frequency pulsation energy (e.g.,radio-frequency energy) to the battery 12 by way of the connection lines34, 36. The controller 32 of the pulsator 16 may include a voltagemeasuring circuit 33 and may prevent operation of the pulsator 16 whenthe voltage across the terminals 20, 22 of the battery 12 is less than apredetermined threshold voltage (e.g., 2.15 volts per cell). The use ofa predetermined threshold or “trigger” voltage is described in greaterdetail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,648,714 to Eryou et al., the entire contentsof which are incorporated herein by reference. Therefore, in one aspect,the pulsator 16 may only pulsate (i.e., apply pulsation energy) when acharging voltage is being applied to the battery 12 by the charger 14 orwhen the surface charge voltage is sufficiently high such that thevoltage across the terminals 20, 22 is equal to or greater than thepredetermined threshold voltage.

However, it has been discovered that controlling such a system 10 basedupon a predetermined threshold voltage may produce the undesirable sideeffect of generating a signal that, if received by the controller 24 ofthe charger 14, may cause the charger 14 to shut off too early, shut offtoo late or not shut off at all.

Accordingly, the disclosed system 10 may include a filter 18 positionedbetween the controller 24 of the charger 14 and the pulsator 16 tofilter such undesired signals and eliminate or reduce the effects thepulsator 16 has on the charger 14. For example, the filter 18 may bepositioned between the controller 24 of the charger 14 and the terminals20, 22.

In one aspect, the filter 18 may reduce the amplitude and/or intensityof the electrical signals emitted from the pulsator 16, therebydampening the signals before they are received by the controller 24 ofthe charger 14.

Referring to FIGS. 2 a and 2 b, an unfiltered signal (FIG. 2 a) mayenter the filter 18 by way of connection line 30 and may exit the filter18 as a filtered or attenuated signal (FIG. 2 b) and may be communicatedto the controller 24 of the charger 14 from the filter 18 by way of theconnection line 26. For example, filter 18 may reduce the amplitude ofthe signal (FIG. 2 a) by about 95% (FIG. 2 b).

At this point, those skilled in the art will appreciate that attenuationof the signal received from the pulsator 16 may reduce the energycontained in the signal and may prevent the signal from registering withthe controller 24 of the charger 14. Thus, unwanted interactions betweenthe pulsator 16 and the charger 14 may be reduced or eliminated byfiltering the signal from the pulsator 16 prior to passing the signal tothe charger 14.

Referring to FIG. 1 b, a second aspect of the disclosed battery chargingand pulsating system, generally designated 50, may include a battery 52,a battery charger 54 and a battery pulsator 56. The battery 52 mayinclude a positive terminal 58 and a negative terminal 60. The batterycharger 54 may include a controller 62 and may be connected to thepositive terminal 58 of the battery 52 by a first connection line 64 andthe negative terminal 60 of the battery 52 by a second connection line66. The battery pulsator 56 may include a controller 68 and may beconnected to the positive terminal 58 of the battery 52 by a thirdconnection line 70 and the negative terminal 60 of the battery 52 by afourth connection line 72.

As discussed above, it has been discovered that using a charger 54together with a pulsator 56 may produce the undesirable side effect ofgenerating a signal that, if received by the controller 62 of thecharger 54, may cause the charger 54 to shut off too early, shut off toolate or not shut off at all.

Accordingly, the disclosed system 50 may include functionality thatprevents interaction from occurring between the pulsator 56 and thecharger 54 by activating the pulsator 56 only when the charger 54 is notcharging. For example, the pulsator 56 may only be activated to supplypulsation energy when the charger 54 is not supplying a charging currentto the battery 52 and the battery 52 has received a partial or fullcharge (i.e., post charge pulsation). Therefore, those skilled in theart will appreciate that interactions between the charger 54 and thepulsator 56 may be reduced or eliminated by not operating the pulsator56 when the charger 54 is operating.

In one aspect, the controller 68 of the pulsator 56 may include avoltage measuring circuit 74 adapted to monitor the voltage across theterminals 58, 60 of the battery 52 to detect when the charger 54 isactive (i.e., voltage across terminals 58, 60 is above the predeterminedthreshold voltage) and inactive (i.e., voltage across terminals 58, 60is below the predetermined threshold voltage). Those skilled in the artwill appreciate that a current measuring circuit may also be usedwithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure. When thevoltage across the terminals 58, 60 drops below a predeterminedthreshold value, the pulsator 56 may be actuated and may begin supplyingpulsation energy to the battery 52. For example, the pulsator 56 may beactuated only when the voltage across the terminals 58, 60 drops below2.15 volts per cell of the battery 52 (i.e., the predetermined thresholdvoltage).

Thus, the controller 68 of the pulsator 56 may monitor the charger 54 todetermine whether the charger 54 is active and may only activate thepulsator 56 when it is determined that the charger 54 is inactive.

Optionally, the controller 68 of the pulsator 56 may operate thepulsator 56 on a delay such that the pulsator 56 is only activated whenthe voltage across the terminals 58, 60 of the battery 52 drops belowthe predetermined threshold voltage and remains below the predeterminedthreshold voltage for a predetermined period of time (i.e., a delayperiod).

Referring to FIG. 5, the average voltage per cell of the battery 52 isshown versus time. Section 76 of the graph shows the voltage increase asthe battery 52 is charged. Once the battery 52 is fully charged, thecharger 54 may be deactivated and the voltage may drop, as shown bysection 78 of the graph. The first drop in voltage (section 78) may bedetected by the voltage measuring circuit 74 and may signal theactivation of the pulsator 56. A second voltage drop below a secondpredetermined value (section 80) may be detected when the battery 52 isdisconnected from the pulsator 56, thereby signaling the pulsator 56 todeactivate (i.e., stop pulsating).

In another aspect, the pulsator 56 may be configured to operate onlyafter a gassing voltage of the battery 52 has been detected by thevoltage measuring circuit 74. The “gassing voltage” may be a voltage atwhich a side effect reaction is initiated during which water in thebattery 52 is converted into visible hydrogen and oxygen gas bubbles.For example, for a typical battery 52, the gassing voltage may beachieved when the battery approaches about 80% of a full charge.

Accordingly, it has been discovered that when the gassing voltage isreached the charger 54 may enter a timing mode that deactivates thecharger 54 after a predetermined amount of time. Since, at this point,the charger 54 may no longer measure voltage, operating the pulsator 56after the gassing voltage has been detected should provide little or nointeraction between the pulsator 56 and the charger 54.

In another aspect, the pulsator 56 may be in communication with thecharger 54 such that the pulsator 56 may deactivate when the charger 54is activated. For example, the controller 68 of the pulsator 56 mayreceive signals from the controller 62 of the charger 54 indicative ofwhen the charger 54 is active such that the pulsator 56 is only active(i.e., pulsating) when the charger 54 is inactive (i.e., not charging).However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that a singlecontroller or processor may be used to control both the pulsator 56 andthe charger 54 without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure.

Thus, the system 50 may reduce or eliminate unwanted interactionsbetween the pulsator 56 and the charger 54 caused by pulse charges andtop off charges that occur after the battery 52 is charged. The pulsator56 may also be prevented from operating when the charger 54 is firstactivated. Furthermore, a delay may be employed to prevent the pulsator56 from operating during short periods when the charger 54 isinterrupted.

Referring to FIG. 1 c, a third aspect of the disclosed battery chargingand pulsating system, generally designated 100, may include a battery102, a battery charger 104 and a battery pulsator 106. The battery 102may include a positive terminal 108 and a negative terminal 110. Thebattery charger 104 may include a controller 112 and may be connected tothe positive terminal 108 of the battery 102 by a first connection line114 and the negative terminal 110 of the battery 102 by a secondconnection line 116. The battery pulsator 106 may include internalcircuitry 118 and may be connected to the positive terminal 108 of thebattery 102 by a third connection line 120 and the negative terminal 110of the battery 102 by a fourth connection line 122.

The internal circuitry 118 may be any circuit capable of generating apulse and may have an internal capacitance. For example, referring toFIG. 3, the internal circuitry 118 of the pulsator 106 may include acapacitor 124, an inductor 126, a transistor 128 and a switch 130. Thecapacitor 124, inductor 126 and transistor 128 may collectively operateto generate a pulse. The capacitor 124 may be used to hold a minimumamount of capacitance and a voltage necessary to operate the pulsator106. However, the capacitor 124 may also produce undesirable side effectinteractions with the battery charger 104 and may keep the system 100active after the charged battery 102 has been removed from the charger104.

Referring to FIG. 4 a, the retained charge may persist as the voltageaccumulated during battery charging (section 140 of the graph) ismaintained even after the charged battery is disconnected (section 142of the graph). The active circuit 118 may send an unwanted signal to thecontroller 112 of the charger 104 indicating incorrectly that thebattery 102 is still connected to the charger 104. This can prevent thecontroller 112 from determining that the fully charged battery 102 mayhave been disconnected and may have been removed from the system 100,thereby potentially presenting a problem for the next new battery 102 inneed of a charge. When a new battery 102 is connected to the charger104, the charger 104 may erroneously perceive that this new battery isthe former, previously disconnected and already charged battery 102.Since the charger 104 may believe that the former battery 102 is alreadyfully charged, the charger 104 may not fully charge the new battery 102that is actually connected to the charger 104. This may be aninconvenience to a user expecting the new battery to be fully charged.

Accordingly, the disclosed system 100 may include functionality forallowing the system 100 to determine that the battery 102 has beendisconnected from the system 100 and/or to minimize or eliminate theinteractions caused by the capacitor 124.

In one aspect, the controller 112 of the charger 104 may measure thebattery voltage during charging and may determine, either electronicallyor manually, that the battery 102 may have in fact been disconnected.Referring to FIG. 4 b, when the battery 102 is charging, voltage canbuild (section 150 of the graph) and may reach a maximum voltage(section 152 of the graph) when the battery 102 is fully charged. Whenthe charged battery 102 is removed from the system 100, the voltage maydrop to zero (section 154 of the graph). Once the controller 112 of thecharger 104 registers the voltage drop, it may recognize that thevoltage remains at zero (section 156 of the graph) and may determinethat the old charged battery 102 has been disconnected from the system100. When a new battery is connected, the controller 112 of the charger104 may recognize that a new battery 102 is connected and can reinitiatethe charging cycle for a new battery 102 to be charged. The voltage maybuild as the new battery charges (section 158 of the graph) and thecharge within the capacitor 124 may be dissipated.

In another aspect, when the pulsator 106 is inactive, the switch 130 maybe opened to electrically isolate the capacitor 124 from the system 100,thereby preventing interactions between the pulsator 106 and the charger104. The switch 130 may be a relay, a proximity switch, a solid stateswitch or any device capable of disconnect and may be positioned betweenthe capacitor 124 and the charger 104 to prevent the charger 104 fromdetecting the voltage dissipated by the capacitor 124. Interrupting thesignal flow would cause the voltage to drop to zero.

In another aspect, the controller 112 of the charger 104 may beprevented from detecting the voltage from the pulsator 106 bypositioning a resistor (not shown), or other device capable ofdissipating voltage, in the internal circuitry 118 of the pulsator 106between the capacitor 124 and the charger 104 to bleed off or absorb thecharge in the capacitor 124. For example, a resistor may be positionedin the internal circuitry 118 of the pulsator 106 between the connectionline 120 and ground.

In another aspect, the transistor 128 may be selectively actuated toshunt the voltage accumulated in the capacitor 124 to ground.

In another aspect, the charger 104 can interrupt the control signalbefore it reaches the controller 112 and may reconnect the signal when anew battery 102 has been introduced to the system 100.

Referring to FIG. 1 d, a fourth aspect of the disclosed battery chargingand pulsating system, generally designated 200, may include a battery202, a battery charger 204 and a battery pulsator 206. The battery 202may include a positive terminal 208 and a negative terminal 210. Thebattery charger 204 may include a controller 212 and may be connected tothe positive terminal 208 of the battery 202 by a first connection line214 and the negative terminal 210 of the battery 202 by a secondconnection line 216. The battery pulsator 206 may include a controller218 and may be connected to the positive terminal 208 of the battery 202by a third connection line 220 and the negative terminal 210 of thebattery 202 by a fourth connection line 222.

The controller 218 of the pulsator 206 may be adapted to control theoperation of the pulsator 206 to limit the exposure of the pulsator 206and avoid problems associated with over pulsating the battery 202. Forexample, over pulsating a battery 202 may remove excessive amounts ofdeposit, thereby potentially creating a short circuit between the platesof the battery 202.

In one aspect, the controller 218 of the pulsator 206 may limit theoperation of the pulsator 206 to a predetermined amount of time. Forexample, the controller 218 may only operate the pulsator 206 for atmost about 3 continuous hours.

In another aspect, the controller 218 of the pulsator 206 may operatethe pulsator 206 only during a predetermined voltage window. Forexample, the controller 218 may only operate the pulsator 206 when thevoltage across the terminals 208, 210 of the battery 202 is betweenabout 2.40 and 2.60 volts per cell.

In another aspect, the controller 218 of the pulsator 206 may operatethe pulsator 206 according to a predetermined schedule of operation. Theschedule may be constant (e.g., the pulsator 206 may be activated onceevery 5 charge cycles) or may vary (e.g., the pulsator 206 may beactivated every fifth charge cycle for the first 10 cycles, every othercycle for the next 20 cycles and every cycle thereafter).

In one aspect, the controller 218 of the pulsator 206 may modify thepulse strength of the pulsator 206. This control can also be achieved byadjusting the time the pulsator 206 is activated through use of a timeror may be activated at specific voltages or at a specific range ofvoltages.

Although various aspects of the disclosed system and method for chargingand pulsating batteries have been shown and described, modifications mayoccur to those skilled in the art upon reading the specification. Thepresent application includes such modifications and is limited only bythe scope of the claims.

1. A battery charging and pulsating system comprising: a battery havinga positive terminal and a negative terminal; a charger electricallyconnected to said positive and said negative terminals of said battery,said charger including a controller; a pulsator electrically connectedto said positive and said negative terminals of said battery, saidpulsator including a controller; and a voltage measuring circuitelectrically connected to said positive and said negative terminals ofsaid battery, said voltage measuring circuit being adapted to measure avoltage across said positive and said negative terminals of saidbattery, wherein said controller of said pulsator is adapted to activatesaid pulsator when said measured voltage is at least one of (1) at orbelow a predetermined threshold voltage and (2) at or above apredetermined gassing voltage.
 2. The system of claim 1 wherein saidbattery is a lead-acid battery.
 3. The system of claim 1 wherein saidvoltage measuring circuit is associated with said controller of saidpulsator.
 4. The system of claim 1 wherein said controller of saidcharger and said controller of said pulsator are one and the same. 5.The system of claim 1 wherein said charger and said pulsator asassociated with a single charging and pulsating device.
 6. The system ofclaim 1 wherein said predetermined threshold voltage is a voltageindicative of no charging current being supplied to said battery by saidcharger.
 7. The system of claim 1 wherein said predetermined gassingvoltage is a voltage corresponding to about 80 percent of a fullycharged voltage of said battery.
 8. The system of claim 1 furthercomprising a schedule of operation for operating said pulsator, whereinsaid pulsator is activated according to said schedule of operation. 9.The system of claim 8 wherein said schedule of operation is a variedschedule of operation having at least a first portion and a secondportion, said second portion occurring at a time after said firstportion, wherein said pulsator is operated less frequently during saidfirst portion than during said second portion.
 10. The system of claim 1wherein said pulsator is adapted to supply a pulse to said battery, saidpulse having a pulse strength, and wherein said controller of saidpulsator is adapted to control said pulse strength.
 11. The system ofclaim 1 wherein said controller of said pulsator is adapted to activatesaid pulsator after a delay period.
 12. The system of claim 1 whereinsaid charger is deactivated when said controller of said chargerdetermines that said battery is disconnected from said charger.